Be Your Own Ed & The Ed On My Shoulders
by nico420
Summary: Eddy knows Double D better than anyone; better than Double D knows himself. That's why everything he does is for his friend's own good.
1. Be Your Own Ed

**I do not own Ed, Edd n Eddy or any of the following characters.**

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Eddy would never admit to something like this, but he had a bigger reason for doing the things he did than money or jawbreakers. A goal that wasn't trivial or short-term.

It was his motivation. It gave him a purpose.

Every scam—every misadventure—it was all for Double D.

And money...

And jawbreakers...

But mostly Double D.

To Eddy, he was sort of a project.

See, Double D came from a strict family (and a neglective one at that). They did more than raise him to be prim and proper, well-behaved, and self-disciplined. They programmed him to be subservient. They discouraged him from having fun. For thinking for himself.

That's what bothered Eddy the most.

Double D was the smartest person he knew. Not the smartest _kid _he knew—the smartest _person_. Smarter than Eddy's stupid parents—his mother, who never listened to him and never cared what he thought, and his father, who discouraged any display of emotion—smarter than his teachers at school, who only cared about their salaries and abusing their authority—smarter than all of the students—smarter than all of them combined. He was a precocious child—a promising inventor—a great scientist and mathematician. He could invent all kinds of contraptions; solve almost any equation. That's why Eddy hated the fact that Double D couldn't think for himself. He hated knowing that the most curious person he knew was unable to question authority. That he blindly did whatever his parents told him. That he believed every word they said and thought they were for his own good.

To be subservient is to give up your power to someone else. Eddy hated the fact that Double D was giving up that power. Someone who had so much of it.

He knew that the person that Double D was raised to be and the person that he was born to be were two different people; looking at him was like looking at two different people at once. Eddy could see right past one and through to the other.

It was a matter of nature vs. nurture. His friend was nurtured into being Eddward. Double D was his natural self. If his parents hadn't tampered with him and turned him into the cautious, docile killjoy that he was—if he didn't try so hard to be "perfect" for them—Double D would _be_ perfect.

That's why everything Eddy did was for Double D's own good.

He was his only hope. He was the only one who could see him that clearly; better than Double D could see himself. He was the only one who could save him; who could set him free. He couldn't waste a moment of his time. If he waited too long, he was afraid that Double D's personality would cement.

Eddy would show him a world outside of his home. He would give him a _new_ home with the Eds. A new family. A new name. He would show him what it was like to have fun—and damned if he'd let his friend's own protests stand in the way. Most importantly, he would teach him to be himself, someday. He would release him from the cage that he was in; from the person that he thought he was. He only had to show it to him. Because, right now, Double D couldn't think for himself.

And because, Eddy was able to look past the person that Double D was raised to be and through to the person that he was born to be, he was also able to connect with him. Somehow, because Eddy could communicate with his inner-self, directly, Double D was able to respond as himself.

It was the true Double D, who would ramble on for hours and never shut up. The true Double D, who sassed Eddy whenever he teased him. The true Double D, he would share conversations with in private. The true Double D, who wasn't afraid to show off his talents. The true Double D was humble, but not modest. He wasn't quiet or reserved or stoic. He was talkative (_too_ talkative) and exuberant. Eddward would never "talk back" to someone. Double D would lecture. Double D was sassy. He was a smartass.

Eddward would also never participate in any of Ed or Eddy's reindeer games. He would never go along with Eddy's scams. But Double D would; even if he pretended that he didn't want to. Double D was the inventor. He was the one who made everything happen. All he had to do was say no, and that would be that. Without his help, whatever scheme Eddy was cooking up would fall flat.

And don't think that Double D went along with his plans because of his docile nature. As previously mentioned, he was able to be himself around Eddy—rather, he was _un_able to _not _be himself—so he wasn't afraid to say no to him.

It was that he couldn't.

He could deny wanting to take part in anything Eddy had planned, but he couldn't say no to something that he actually wanted. Or, he _could _say no—but he'd go along with it, anyway.

He knew the things that Eddy did were often considered wrong—either, unethical or against the rules—he knew that his parents didn't approve of him; but he also knew that Eddy was fun.

Eddy brought out a different side of him. A side that he was made to feel ashamed of. A side that he'd tried to close off. Or maybe it was more than a side of him. Maybe it was who he was.

With Eddy, Double D could be himself.

With Eddy, he could learn to have fun.


	2. The Ed On My Shoulder

**I do not own Ed, Edd n Eddy or any of the following characters.**

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The power that Eddy had over Double D was amazing. However, this power didn't belong to Eddy; it was merely something he'd harnessed.

It belonged to Double D. It came from somewhere deep inside of him, like a voice in his head that was telling him to do whatever Eddy said.

Indeed, it wasn't his friend's nagging or threatening that convinced him to do it. It was that "voice." That thing that was the opposite of his conscience.

Eddy had given Double D a taste for mischief, only to have him discover that he now had a thirst for it; a thirst that only Eddy could quench. And as much as Eddy blamed his friend for everything that went wrong, Double D silently blamed Eddy for everything wrong that he, himself, did.

Eddy was like his excuse. He was the one who "forced" him to do things that he "didn't" want to. He was the devil on his shoulder that helped to keep his conscience quiet at night.

But Double D wasn't doing this for Eddy. He never did it for Eddy.

He was doing this for himself.


End file.
